Adult Initiation & Sacrament Preparation

I'd like to file this under "keeping an open mind."  Please follow me on this... this article is a very worthwhile read from Angelus News columnist Robert Brennan.  Now I have in the past not agreed with Mr. Brennan on a number of topics, and have at times referred to him as my arch-nemesis (although I'm not sure that can count since he has no idea who I am).  So even though I may not always agree with Mr. Brennan, in this case, as something of a Methuselah myself these days, this particular column provides some very thought provoking insight. In fact, I would go so far as to say that whenever I read one of Mr. Brennan's columns, it always provides some thought-provoking insight.  Just because I don't normally agree with his views does not mean his work isn't worth reading.  And that opens me up to an even bigger concern - our need to be open-minded.  Being open-minded is not something you see a lot these days.  Our media has subdivided itself into po...

This Sunday is the 4th and final Sunday of Advent.  The Nativity is quickly approaching and like an expectant parent, the reality of what is to come is beginning to set in.  During the Sundays of Advent we’ve been hearing the prophecy of God sending us a Savior, and now with that moment nearly upon us, we see the prophecy in our readings becoming much more specific, giving flesh to what was just an idea, leaving no doubt that this is going to happen and that we should be prepared… The Word for the 4th Sunday of Advent Micah 5:1-4a Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 Hebrews 10:5-10 Luke 1:39-45 Our first reading comes from the Book of the Prophet Micah.  While Micah is a contemporary of Isaiah, and his prophetic message is similar, Micah, unlike Isaiah, is not a native of Jerusalem, so through his voice we see the view of an outsider looking in.  Though we don’t hear from Micah very often in the Liturgy, his prophecy is the one that gives us the birthplace of our Savior – Bet...

This morning I read a very insightful article from Father Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, regular columnist seen in our Angelus News.  While Fr. Rolheiser may not answer the question he's posing, he certainly defines the problems exceptionally well.  As someone who works in initiation ministry, that is, welcoming and preparing new people into the church, these are all issues I wrestle with regularly.  I have been giving this a lot of thought as of late, and I have to wonder if all of this doesn't fall under the category of "the decline of the family structure."  Follow me on this... For countless millennia the basic social unit was the family.  It was understood that one's duty was to one's family, no matter how often flawed.  The family was the method by which all the members were physically protected and was the engine of an economy.  The agrarian family worked together to keep their farms going and growing.  Urban families shared responsibilities to ke...

“Shout for Joy!”  The opening lines of our first reading express the feelings we should be having during this third Sunday of Advent.  Also known as Gaudete Sunday (Latin for “rejoice”), we celebrate that we have now past the half-way point of our penitent reflection – the “hump day” of Advent, if you will.  What have we to be so joyful about?  Our readings provide the answer… The Word for the 3rd Sunday of Advent Zephaniah 3:14-18a Psalm 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 Philippians 4:4-7 Luke3:10-18 Our first reading comes from the Book of the Prophet Zephaniah.  Though we don’t hear from Zephaniah very often in our Sunday Liturgies, and though the book itself isn’t that long (only 3 chapters), but the importance of his message can be seen in his predecessors Jeremiah and Baruch, and may even have had a profound effect on the Judean monarchy itself by moving King Josiah to begin his campaign of religious reform.  Our passage this week, though similar to the passages we hear...

The promise of salvation has been fulfilled!  This is the promise of Advent.  This is the promise of Christ.  As we begin our new Liturgical cycle with this season of Advent we take a lesson from the prophets: that our hope for salvation will be fulfilled.  How do I know this?  Let’s look at our readings for this week… The Word for the 2nd Sunday of Advent Baruch 5:1-9 Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11 Luke 3:4, 6 Our first reading is from the Book of Baruch, who was an assistant to the prophet Jeremiah.  Jeremiah, as we may remember from our readings last week, is one of the prophets of the Babylonian Exile.  The Book of Baruch is reflective of that same period, though unlike the Book of Jeremiah, no known Hebrew version of this book has been found (only the Greek version remains), making it one of the Bible’s Deuterocanonical books (those included in the Catholic Bible, but not in the Hebrew or Protestant Bibles).  In our passag...

When we celebrate the secular New Year we like to reminisce about the past year while looking anxiously ahead to the year ahead.  With this first Sunday of Advent the Church rings in the new year in much the same way, remembering how God promised to send us a Savior and the memory of that fulfillment through Jesus Christ, while looking forward to the time when Christ will return.  It is a season of anticipation and hope! The Word for the 1st Sunday of Advent Jeremiah 33:14-16 Psalm 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 Our first reading comes from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah.  Jeremiah, as we may remember, came to his calling under the great reformer King Josiah, but after seeing his king fall in the battle of Megiddo and the subsequent failure of the Kingdom to maintain its devotion to God, he turned his prophecy to warnings of the coming fall of Jerusalem and the subsequent Exile.  But even as he saw the fall of the Kingdom, he also...

The celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King marks the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year.  Although being one of the newest feast days on the Church calendar, having been established by Pope Pius XI in 1925, its importance in the life of Christians should not be overlooked nor taken lightly.  While this may be a relatively new solemnity for the Church, its roots run quite deep, as our readings will show: The Word for the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe Daniel 7:13-14 Psalm 93:1, 1-2, 5 Revelation 1:5-8 John 18:33b-37 Our first reading comes from the Book of Daniel.  As I wrote last week, the Book of Daniel is to the Hebrew Scriptures what the Book of Revelation is to the Christian scriptures.  Our passage this week sounds as if it could be coming from Revelation as we hear about Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man being received by God and being granted dominion over all creation.  Whether you read this from a Jewish perspective or...